Brain-damaged 5-year-old awarded $7.1 million

SAMUEL MAULLAssociated Press Writer

Published Friday, July 04, 2003

NEW YORK -- A 5-year-old girl, left unable to walk or talk when a bacterial infection devastated her brain at birth, was awarded $7.1 million Thursday after a jury found she and her mother were not given proper obstetric and pediatric care.

The money was awarded to Jamie Frank. She was born Jan. 6, 1998, in Lenox Hill Hospital with a streptococcal infection that was passed to her from her mother during birth; it destroyed her brain's motor functions.

Denise Dunleavy, a lawyer for the girl's parents, Jim and Amy Frank, who live in Palm Beach Gardens, said the mother's obstetrician tested her for infectious bacteria in her birth canal and found her to be positive but kept quiet about it and did nothing to clear up the condition.

Dunleavy said the obstetrician, Dr. Michael J. Strongin, should have started Mrs. Frank on intravenous antibiotics immediately. And she said the pediatrician, Dr. Paul Grunfeld, should have detected the condition in the baby and treated her right away.

Because the baby did not receive timely treatment, said Susan Karten, another lawyer for the Franks, the child has already entered puberty, the part of her brain that controls weight does not work and the girl has undergone several surgeries.

The state Supreme Court jury of four women and two men voted to award the child nearly $36 million, but the parents and the defendants -- Lenox Hill, Strongin and Grunfeld -- had reached a pre-verdict "high-low" agreement. This agreement meant that if the jury found in favor of Jamie, the parents would agree to accept as a maximum the largest amount available from the defendants' insurance companies, $7.1 million.

The Franks sobbed openly when the jury forewoman read the verdict. Jim Frank, a financial adviser, said outside court that what happened to his daughter "was totally and completely avoidable."

Jay Rappaport, lawyer for Strongin, said the jury affirmed "something that was medically impossible -- that the child had a strep infection in her bloodstream for four weeks and showed no symptoms."

John Lydanne, lawyer for Lenox Hill, issued a statement on behalf of the institution, saying, "The hospital strongly believes the verdict is inconsistent with the medical and scientific evidence presented."